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| MIA at NE | NYG at BUF | NYJ at TEN | OAK at JAX | PHI at NO | PIT at STL | TB at SF | WAS at MIN |
Week 16 Game Recap: Miami Dolphins 7, New England Patriots 28
What you need to know
| Miami Dolphins |
The Miami Dolphins succumbed to the inevitable and lost to the New England Patriots despite being the beneficiaries of four turnovers in the game. The Dolphins also turned the ball over on downs on two fourth and goal situations, basically handing the game to the unexpectedly inefficient and turnover prone Patriots.
QB Cleo Lemon was under pressure for most of the game and failed to put in the proper effort on one potential touchdown run in the second half in which he ran out of bounds in front of the pylon on fourth and goal. Despite being pursued, Lemon likely could have made the extra effort to make sure the ball crossed the plane.
The Dolphins were able to find a bit success on the ground but it was not nearly enough to make the game any closer. A more talented team would have been able to take advantage of the turnovers and the overall poor play of the Patriots in the second half, but not the Miami Dolphins of 2007.
Defensively, Miami was susceptible to the big play or costly key penalty. RB Laurence Maroney's two big runs of over 50 yards were crucial for New England in the victory.
| New England Patriots |
New England looked beatable against Miami. In the second half, QB Tom Brady threw two interceptions and fumbled the ball once. One of his touchdown passes followed a pass interference call in the end zone which placed the ball at the one yard line and another touchdown pass looked like it was intercepted but WR Jabar Gaffney reeled it in for the score.
RB Laurence Maroney ran for two gains of over fifty yards including one for a touchdown in which he was untouched through the line of scrimmage and was wide open the entire way to the end zone. He was aided by a key block by RB Heath Evans on the touchdown and a key block by WR Randy Moss on the other big gain.
All of New England's scoring happened in the first half, as they seemingly fell apart in the second half. If not for Miami's bumbling offense, they may have been ripe for the upset.
Defensively, the Patriots kept constant pressure on QB Cleo Lemon which forced the young quarterback to be mostly inaccurate. The defense also forced two turnovers on downs on goal to go situations which kept Miami from mounting any sort of comeback.
What you ought to know
| QB Cleo Lemon, Pass: 18 - 41 - 171 - 1 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 3 - 9 - 0 |
Lemon was under pressure from the New England defense throughout the game. He was forced to throw the ball away on a few occasions and was inaccurate otherwise. On one fourth and goal situation, Lemon was forced to scamper toward the right pylon and instead of diving into the end zone he jumped out of bounds with the ball in his right hand. The referees ruled that the ball was out of bounds and did not break the plane, and despite a challenge by Miami the play was upheld. Considering that the Dolphins were down four touchdowns, Lemon should have made a more dedicated effort to get the ball in the end zone - either by diving or switching the ball to his left hand.
Lemon did make one nice play in the face of defensive pressure in the second half. While being pursued by a couple of New England defenders he ran in circles deep behind the line of scrimmage before firing a pass to RB Lorenzo Booker for the first down.
| RB Lorenzo Booker, Rush: 8 - 56 - 0, Rec: 3 - 26 - 0 (4 targets) |
Booker ran fairly well for Miami in the loss but the quick deficit forced Miami to focus on their meager passing game early.
| RB Jesse Chatman, Rush: 9 - 38 - 0, Rec: 2 - 25 - 0 (2 targets) |
Chatman ran hard throughout the entire game and despite being out of the NFL for two years he looked very capable at the running back position. He was unable to reel off any big gains on the ground but did notch a nice 22 yard reception.
| WR Ted Ginn, Rec: 4 - 27 - 0 (9 targets) |
Ginn was unable to take advantage of his blazing speed against New England and was not a major contributor for Miami.
| WR Marty Booker, Rec: 3 - 29 - 0 (6 targets) |
Booker was a top target for QB Cleo Lemon but the Dolphins as a team were unable to get anything worthwhile going on offense and Booker did not contribute anything memorable in the loss.
| WR Greg Camarillo, Rec: 2 - 26 - 1 (3 targets) |
Second year WR Greg Camarillo reeled in Miami's only touchdown of the day. As he was running toward the sideline in the end zone, he caught the ball cleanly and made sure to get both feet in bounds before running out.
| TE David Martin, Rec: 2 - 31 - 0 (6 targets) |
Martin made a backwards running stumbling catch to the nine yard line in the third quarter, but the Dolphins were unable to capitalize on the field position. Martin also had a high pass bounce off his hands in the end zone.
| TE Justin Peelle, Rec: 2 - 7 - 0 (5 targets) |
Peele caught a sidearm toss from QB Cleo Lemon and was downed inside the one yard line. Unfortunately for Miami, they were unable to score despite the prime field position following the grab.
| PK Jay Feely 0 - 0 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 1 points |
Feely barely played against New England but he connected on his only extra point attempt of the day.
| MIA Rush Defense |
The Dolphins let up two 50+ yard gains to RB Laurence Maroney. One of those gains resulted in a touchdown and the other set up WR Randy Moss' second touchdown grab of the day. Otherwise, the Dolphins were largely untested on the ground as the Patriots continued to focus on the aerial game.
| MIA Pass Defense |
The Dolphins came up with two interceptions and nearly had two others against the usually solid QB Tom Brady. Still, the Patriots proved to be too much to handle in the end, as four first half scores (including three in the air) proved to be enough to stave off the hapless Dolphins.
| QB Tom Brady, Pass: 18 - 33 - 215 - 3 TD / 2 INT, Rush: 4 - 11 - 0 |
Brady looked human for the first time all season. Brady threw two picks and fumbled once in the victory. He still managed to complete three touchdown passes, including two to WR Randy Moss. His other touchdown pass looked intercepted as DB Lance Shulters jumped in front of the pass and appeared to reel it in but the ball went through his hands into the gut of WR Jabar Gaffney who trotted into the end zone for the score.
| RB Laurence Maroney, Rush: 14 - 156 - 1 (1 targets) |
Maroney has suddenly become a contributor for the Patriots. He had two rushes of over fifty yards including a 59 yard scamper in which he was untouched. He had a clear path to the end zone as soon as he hit the line of scrimmage. However, despite the large lead he did not receive the same amount of touches that a typical featured back would carry.
On Maroney's 51 yard run he was running behind WR Randy Moss who was attempting to clear the way for him.
Five of Maroney's carries came on New England's final possession of the game as they were running the clock out.
| RB Kevin Faulk, Rush: 7 - 29 - 0, Rec: 1 - 9 - 0 (1 targets) |
Faulk filled his normal role as a third down running back and short passing target for QB Tom Brady. He was stopped short of the first down on third and one early in the game and the Patriots were forced to punt.
| WR Jabar Gaffney, Rec: 5 - 82 - 1 (8 targets) |
Gaffney caught a touchdown pass on a play that should have been picked off by DB Lance Shulters. It looked like even Shulters thought he had caught the ball but the pass sailed through his hands into the clutches of Gaffney who ran it in for the score untouched. He also made a nice sideline grab on third down for 14 yards and the first down on another pass that could have been picked off by Miami.
| WR Randy Moss, Rec: 5 - 50 - 2 (13 targets) |
Moss added to his staggering touchdown totals with two scores. His second touchdown of the game came after he was the victim of pass interference in the end zone which placed the ball at the one yard line for New England. On the very next play QB Tom Brady hit Moss on a quick slant route for the score.
On Laurence Maroney's 51 yard run up the middle, Moss led the way as a key blocker on the play.
| WR Wes Welker, Rec: 5 - 49 - 0 (7 targets) |
Welker was again a favorite target of WR Tom Brady but Patriots' average play overall left the clutch wide receiver with just average numbers on the day.
| WR Donte Stallworth, Rec: 2 - 25 - 0 (5 targets) |
Stallworth was mostly a non-factor in the victory for New England. He is clearly the fourth wide receiver option in New England. Both of his receptions came on the Patriots' first possession of the game.
| TE Kyle Brady |
Brady did not play due to injury.
| TE Ben Watson |
Watson did not play due to injury.
| PK Stephen Gostkowski 0 - 0 FG, 4 - 4 XP, 4 points |
Gostkowski has now connected on more extra points in one season than any other kicker in the history of the NFL.
| NE Rush Defense |
The Patriots rush defense was mostly untested, although RB Lorenzo Booker and RB Jesse Chatman were both running hard and fast throughout the contest. After quickly vaulting to another big lead the Patriots forced the Dolphins into a pass-focused offense.
| NE Pass Defense |
The Patriots managed to keep consistent pressure on QB Cleo Lemon, forcing a large amount of incomplete passes. DB Rodney Harrison and DB James Sanders also came up with some huge hits to knock the ball loose on a couple of incomplete passes. However, despite Lemon's poor completion percentage the Patriots were unable to come up with a pickoff.
